Mini Detroit Style Pizza

Mini Detroit style pizza. What?!

I’m not gonna lie — I’ve never had Detroit-style pizza in Detroit. There are a few places near me that make it, one a chain, and one a place from Brooklyn that might make the best pizza I’ve ever had.

And that’s saying a lot. If you know me, you know I love my pizza. I typically like it cracker-thin and cut into squares; some call this party cut I think? I don’t eat a lot of Detroit style because it’s an indulgence even for pizza. But it’s delicious if done right.

If you’re not familiar, Detroit-style pizza is thick, focaccia-style pizza dough baked in a dark aluminum pan so the bottom gets nice and golden brown. My favorite part is that when baked in the right kind of pan, the cheese gets down in the edges creating a dark black (it’s not burnt, I promise!) crust all around the outer edges. Sometimes the sauce is added on top at the end, although I’ve had it both ways.

I’ve made Detroit style pizza quite a few times using the recipe from Serious Eats. That’s  the one I used for this. There’s a lot of detail here, and the pizza sauce is one I make for everything. The difference here is the pan. Instead of using a single pan, I used what I think is for mini loaves of quick bread? I’m not sure. This is actually where I came up with the idea; I have a giant shelf of various cake/muffin/loaf pans in my storage room, and stumbled upon this one. Perfect for mini Detroit style pizza.

Okay, why mini pizzas, you may ask? Well, if you like the corners of a Detroit pizza because that’s where the crusty edge comes from, making mini pizzas means that every single bite is full of crusty edges. It’s genius really, and I don’t know if I can eat one that’s not this way ever again. Okay, that’s probably not true.

I made the dough the day before and let it cold ferment for 24 hours in the fridge, which gives it a more complex flavor. I’ve made this plenty of times without though, and it’s still pretty good. Top these with your favorite toppings, and if you can, definitely get some brick cheese.

The amount of dough you use per mini pizza will depend on your pan. This pan is the same size as the one I used, and I weighed out 40 grams of dough per mini pizza, and it was the perfect crust to cheese ratio. I also. made some in a standard-sized muffin tin with 25 grams, and I probably would use 30-35 next time to get a thicker crust similar to Detroit style. Baking on a pizza steel gave me the perfect, golden-brown crust. If you don’t have a steel or stone, I recommend following the Serious Eats instructions and baking on the bottom of the oven.